


Some secrets are better left unsaid

by Killer_Rabbit_of_Caerbannog



Series: Along came a spider [4]
Category: The Avengers - All Fandoms
Genre: M/M, Superfamily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-26
Updated: 2012-08-26
Packaged: 2017-11-12 22:39:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/496426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killer_Rabbit_of_Caerbannog/pseuds/Killer_Rabbit_of_Caerbannog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter is special - and sometimes, being special isn't always a good thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some secrets are better left unsaid

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, there is some semblance of plot, shocking, I know.
> 
> Also, for those thinking this was just going to be some rainbow filled fluff, be warned that things will be getting a fair bit darker from here on out. Whether or not this'll have a happy ending is still up in the air, ehehehe.

##### Solomon Grundy was born on a Monday

 

It feel like this is the hardest thing he has ever attempted – that all those years as a soldier, as a leader, are nothing, _nothing_ , compared to this. He can barely breathe from the fear choking him, can barely think from the anxiety clouding his mind, but Steve can’t, _won’t_ , run away from this, not this.

As soon as he steps through the door, Tony starts and hurriedly clicks at his computer. “Hey, Cap, what’s up?”

He’s going for blithe, but Steve isn’t in the least bit fooled. He comes around the desk and glances at Tony’s computer screen. There’s a picture of one of Tony’s classic cars: his screensaver. Well, that isn’t suspicious at all.

When he meets Tony’s eyes, he can see the moment the other understands what is coming and looks away, and suddenly Steve wishes desperately that he hadn’t come down here at all, but he has to ask, he _has_ to.

“Tony,” he says softly. “Is Peter dying?”

“What? Of course not, what makes you even – jeez, Cap, I thought you were gonna ask me something serious but – I mean, how can you even joke about our kid like –”

He wasn’t meeting his gaze. Brutal understanding, as obvious an affirmation as any, and Steve suddenly wants to run, run and run and never look back because his _son_ is –

Tony must see this is his face, because he lays a hand on Steve’s arm, gentle and comforting. “Cap... _Steve_. That’s like saying we’re all dying, every moment of every day. Peter isn’t dying, he’s _living_.”

Now it’s Steve who can’t look at him, won’t meet his gaze, fists clenched tightly and his whole frame shaking. “How long?” he asks hoarsely.

Tony is silent, a long stretch of empty words and lies and truth hanging in the air between them. The hand on Steve’s arm gives a gentle squeeze and then slips away. He looks up as Tony turns his back, and suddenly Steve is assailed with guilt, because how could he forget that Tony, his incredibly smart and knowing Tony, would have known for ages, maybe even since the very beginning, and would have tried and tried and then blamed himself for something he couldn’t fix, couldn’t undo even though it was never his fault to begin with.

Tony’s voice is even when he speaks; but still, Steve can hear his raw pain, his broken, heavy heart in the words. “If he’s lucky, Peter will live to be forty – but that’s only if his life expectancy is the same as a human’s. I don’t know...... I just, there are so many variables, and there’s almost nothing of Stromm’s research left that can help. I have no idea if the aging process will slow down, speed up, or what. I just... I just _don’t know_.”

Steve can’t bear it any longer, turns Tony around and draws him in to his arms. Tony takes a deep, shuddering breath, and that’s enough to break Steve’s heart; his eyes prickle and blur as tears spill forth. They stand like that for what seems an age, until Tony shakes himself free, face smoothed blank. A wall between them, and still, after all this time, Steve can’t quite get past those invisible barriers to the man underneath – the one who hurts and hates and is not at all as strong as he tries to appear to be.

“Tony”, he tries, but a sharp look is enough to make him close his mouth with a click.

There is pain and terrible sadness there.

“I’ve run scans, done all the tests I can.” With a wave of his hand, Tony conjures out of thin air various holograms that are covered in numbers and lines and various schematics. “Peter’s growing faster than normal, but there seems to be nothing I can do to slow that down. It’s only been a month since I busted him out of Stromm’s lab, but he’s already physically six months old, though the day-to-day scans show signs that this may be infinitesimally slowing down, but it’s too early to say if the rate of change will increase or decrease. Far as I can say, or hope for, is that, and this is the best case scenario, he’ll age twice as fast as a normal human by the time he hits maturity.”

“And you can’t stop it?” Steve asks desperately, but already he knows the answer.

Tony shakes his head. “You think I haven’t looked? Fuck, I’ve tried everything, hormone replacement therapy, gamma-radiation, _magic_ – I’ve run simulations, done tests, looked through all of Stromm’s notes and then some. There’s nothing I can do that is guaranteed to work and not cause any problems. I don’t want Peter to... but what can I do? Isn’t it better that I leave it alone instead of risking killing him? Or worse? God, I don’t wanna turn him into a monster, Cap. He’s my...”

Steve slides a hand behind his head and draws Tony in for a kiss.

“I know, Tony,” he murmurs against his lips. “I _know_. I mean, I _get_ it. This isn’t easy for me either, but... You and I both knew there might be complications when we took Peter in. He’s not a normal baby, of course he’s not, but even so, he’s our son now and... And if that means we have to watch Peter grow up faster than normal, so be it. We still get to watch him grow up, Tony. _We still have him._ ”

Tony makes a wounded sound, sliding his face into the hollow of Steve’s throat. They stand entwined in the silence of the lab until JARVIS’ voice smoothly informs them that Peter has awoken from his nap.

 

 

 

 

##### That light at the end of the tunnel is a train

 

Peter’s already mastered the art of crawling at one month old, and by two months, he can pull himself up on to two feet by the bars on his cot.

His Mama does lots of tests – he’s worried, he tells Peter, because he’s growing faster than a normal baby. It’s very frustrating that Peter can’t speak yet, can’t tell Mama that _of course_ his different than a stupid not-special baby because he is a weapon, special special special, that’s what Creator man said (‘Stromm’ Mama calls him, but Peter doesn’t like that name).

Mama says Peter should be growing slower, and Peter is glad he is special, because growing is already too slow, so boring and long and Peter can’t bear to think what it must be like for normal babies (no wonder, Peter thinks, that normal babies are so stupid and dull, when they are bored senseless by taking forever simply growing up).

Then at last, _at last_ , Peter can stand on his own and, even better, _walk_.

When he wakes up, he is lying on a blanket under a tree. Daddy is in the garden playing with Peggie. Peter shivers, bitter coldy cold, and makes calls for Daddy, but he is too far away, and Peggie is barking too loudly. Peter starts to crawl, but then garden is big and the grass makes it hard to move, so he stands and, wobbling slightly, tries to take a step.

And he _does_.

He promptly falls over in his surprise, but immediately he gets to his feet and tries again. This time, he makes it a few steps and stops before falling over. He is so excited; he opens his mouth wide and screams happily, just like Thor does.

Daddy looks up at that and then comes running, only to stop just out of reach. “Come on, Peter,” Daddy says, holding out his hands. “Walk to Daddy.”

Peter swells with pride and takes a step, then another, until he reaches Daddy, and then he’s up, soaring in the sky, looking down at Daddy who is laughing happy smiley. Daddy spins around, still holding Peter up in the air, and he squeals gleefully, waving his arms like a bird.

“What’s this?”

Spider! Peter shrieks, wriggling in Daddy’s hands and reaching for Spider, but instead of being put in her arms, Daddy puts him on the grass.

“Look at this! Go on, Peter, walk to Auntie Tasha.”

Spider crouches down and holds out her arms just as Daddy did, and Peter smiles proudly, walking into her arms. Spider scoops him up and cradles him close, eyes soft and happy. She puts a kiss on his head, rocking him gently. “That’s my special boy,” she murmurs, and Peter delightedly coos.

Now that he knows how, Peter tries to walk always, and soon he can walk around home without falling over once. He is very proud of this, and makes a point when Pepper and Happy come to visit to grab their hands and lead them from room to room, just to show them he can.

Secrets. Peter knows how to do secrets, mustn’t tell, mustn’t mustn’t, and now Peter has a secret all his own.

He can walk and run now, like others, but Birdy teaches him how to _climb_. Its secret though, can’t tell Mama or Daddy; they don’t like Peter going high, going up and up and hiding and climbing, inside and outside, so it’s his and Birdy’s secret.

And then it’s just his secret, because Birdy told him not to climb without him, but Peter does anyway, climbs all by himself, up onto his cupboard to get toy-Big Bruce at night-time when he isn’t home, climbs up in kitchen to get yummy yummy cookies, climbs down and around to get outside to where Daddy and Birdy are.

Peter knows about secrets, and that it is bad when secrets are found out. It’s bad now, because Mama is here, and Mama found out Peter’s secret, and now Mama is upset.

Peter was in the lab, not supposed to be in the lab, but home is empty except for Mama and Daddy, who aren’t around to play with, and Peter doesn’t want to take a nap now, he wants to _play_. He climbs around his room, bored, when he finds it.

Up above bookcase is a tiny metal doorway, with bars across it. Curious, Peter tears apart the baby-monitor and uses its parts to pry open the metal window. Behind it is a long dark tunnel. Peter peers into the gloom, but nothing makes a sound or moves in the darkness, so he guesses it to be safe and crawls inside.

The metal tunnel is long and twists one way and then another. Then there are more tunnels, all connected, and Peter wants to explore them all. He can only _juuust_ see inside the metal tunnel, but he stills bumps into walls when there are corners.

Cool air and nice oily smell like Mama comes from one way, and Peter eagerly crawls towards it. Along the tunnel is another metal window, light spilling through, and when Peter looks out he can see Mama’s lab. The metal window won’t budge, and Peter doesn’t have anything to remove it, but then he sees Dummy moving in the lab.

Peter can’t make Dummy do stuff yet like Mama can, because Peter still can’t talk, but Mama made it so that Dummy would always come to Peter if he cried, so Peter does, watching as Dummy comes over and reaches up, metal fingers gripping and then _ripping_ away the metal window and then reaches in to pull Peter out.

Pleased, Peter stands and makes his way around the lab, touching everything. He’s never been in the lab alone before, and now, without anyone to tell him not to, he inspects every inch of the place.

Sitting on a table and eagerly pulling apart a greasy metal gear that Peter suspects is from a motor, he almost doesn’t notice when something moves out of the corner of his eye. There’s a tiny scrape of a shoe on the polished floor, and both Dummy and Peter turn towards the source of the noise.

At first, he thinks it is just Big Other Bruce, but this green person man is far too small and not right. This green man other is not right... not right like... just like...

“Hello, little brother,” the Green man says silkily, and _leaps_ at him.

Peter screams, rolling out of the way, and falls to the floor in a crumpled heap of wires and machinery. A hand curls around his ankle and pulls, and then Peter is dangling upside-down and is face-to-face with the Green man. Terrified, Peter shoves a screwdriver in his face, and the Green man yells, dropping Peter to clutch at his eye.

Scrambling to his feet, Peter darts under a heavy metal table and wriggles beneath one of Mama’s classic cars, hiding and safe until family arrive.

There’s a metallic screech, and the car is flung away. The Green man looms over Peter, a cruel smile on its face. Peter wails, scrambling back, but there’s nowhere to go and he’s blocked by the Green man, who’s getting closer and closer and –

Thick foam envelops the Green man, and Peter gasps wide-eyed as Dummy drops the fire-extinguisher and rolls around to drag him away by the collar of his shirt. The Green man is already shaking the foam away, and finding Dummy and Peter, advances on them, lethal looking nails raised, poised to strike.

Peter is scared. Peter does not want to die. Peter wants –

“Muh- MAAAAAAAAAAA!”

_Whirr._

A flash of blue light and the Green man shoots backwards, crashing into the wall at the far end of the lab with a ground-shaking bang, debris and wires raining down on him.

“Hey there, kiddo,” and then Mama is there, picking him up and holding him, and its okay now, everything is okay because Mama is here. Peter doesn’t want to keep crying – he’s happy now – but the tears don’t stop, so he wraps his arms around Mama’s neck, close and safe now.

There’s a furious hiss, and the Green man stands, dust and bits of cement falling from his frame as he glares at the new arrival. No, arrivals, as Daddy stands protectively in front of Peter and Mama, shield raised.

“I don’t know who you are,” says Daddy coldly, “But you’ve made a grave mistake in attacking my son.”

“But don’t worry, it’s that last mistake you’ll ever make,” Mama adds coldly, right hand raised.

There’s a whirr but this time the flash of blue meets a white ball of light and everything _explodes_. When Peter’s eyes clear, he and Mama are tucked behind Daddy’s shield, but all around them the ground has been scorched black.

The lab has been obliterated – twisted metal and sparking wires all that remains of the place. The Green man is nowhere to be seen, but Mama hands Peter over to Daddy and flies away to search, just in case.

“Well, this is a right mess,” Daddy says, but he smiles a little at Peter, who is still too rattled to smile back, and instead tucks himself into a nice warm shoulder. He wants to take a nap, ready to go to sleep but something niggles at the back of his head, something important...

Oh!

Peter pulls away from Daddy’s shoulder and peers worriedly at the remains of the lab. He calls worriedly, voice growing louder and more frantic when there’s no reply.

“Hey, hey now Peter, what’s wrong? Calm down, hey, what’s–?”

From a pile of blackened rubble comes a tired sounding whirr. Picking their way over, Daddy pushes aside the wreckage and Peter gurgles anxiously.

Dummy raises an arm, whirring gently, and Peter reaches out to hold the metal hand, babbling an apology that he’s certain the robot doesn’t understand. Hopefully, Mama can make Dummy better when he returns.

Still...

The Green man _had_ been familiar. Peter remembers now, back before Mama had come and saved him, in the darkness of the lab, a not quite failure brother-man other. Creator man had stood close and whispered secrets. _Monster_ , he’d said to Peter, smirking at the lump of smoking green flesh. _That man will be an absolute monster. When you bigger, Peter, make sure you kill this monster. Kill Norman Osborne._

Daddy pats his back gently, murmuring soothing words into Peter’s dark curls. That’s right, now he remembers. A secret. Peter’s secret.

_Kill Norman Osborne, so that you can become stronger._

“Everything’s okay now, Peter. I’ve got you. It’s all alright now,” Daddy says softly.

_Become the ultimate monster, Peter Parker._


End file.
